5:2 diet

AbbieCadabra

i've been overweight all my life & done the yo-yo diet thing with increasing frequency, 2 stone lost - 3 stone back on . i'm a very emotional eater & had a terrible relationship with food.

about 12 years ago i put myself thru' a pretty punishing regime (i didn't recognise it at the time) for 18 months & i managed to lose 6 stone. unfortunately, my mind & body were in very different places & it made no difference whatsoever to how i felt! needless to say, over the next year (perhaps less) i put 7 stone back on...

i've made a lot of changes since then, learnt so much about myself & why i behave the way i do. shame i couldn't have done this sooner, but i think perhaps you have to be a certain age before you hit a crisis/lightbulb moment?

anyway, i lost 4 stone last year by eating less rubbish & exercising regularly. i had hoped to repeat the same again this year but with one thing & another, i'd only dropped another 7lbs up to now. i know this is great as i'm still going in the right direction, but i've become a little frustrated as it didn't matter what i was doing, i've just been going up & down the same 10lbs or so all flipping year!

really interested in the horizon programme (& the earlier one on high intensity training - i'm following Michael Mosley on twitter, he seems happy to answer questions & give updates on how he's getting on), & thought i'd give the 5:2 a go (mainly for the health benefits mentioned, with weightloss being a bonus).

only my 1st week last week but my 2 low calorie days went by without a hitch. i haven't quite worked out what suits me best with the calorie split yet, but i'm sure that will get easier. feel like i need 'something' before an exercise class, but if not exercising i feel fine going until mid-afternoon before eating something. i am having about 700 cals at the moment, but i have still got a lot to lose, so feel this is ok. on a normal day i will probably have 1800-2000 cals with 45 mins exercise Mon-Fri.

i only exercised 2 days last week as i've hurt my foot, so was very pleased to see a 4lbs loss on the scales today

one thing that has struck home is that i've actually enjoyed the feeling of real hunger without feeling the need to gorge myself because i am hungry. i also think on normal days i've eaten less as i'm feeling full quicker & actually recognising this, instead of ignoring it. i thought i had re-trained myself to eat to my appetite/hunger, but perhaps i've slipped a bit & not realised...

interesting ineed! keep the updates coming...

Prudent

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Both of these are incredibly high in sugar and will send your blood glucose levels soaring! I bet you're hungry and craving sweet/starchy foods again in an hour or so

Try switching to a protein based breakfast such as eggs or if you must have cereal then choose porridge or weetabix. Again with the yoghurt, switch to regular Greek yoghurt (no need for fat free, it's higher in sugar content) and add fresh or frozen berries and a drizzle of acacia honey (optional) to sweeten

Yes I was craving sweet/ starchy food within the hour. I eat both weetabix and porridge a fair bit and do add berries to them. I will not buy special K or muller corners again. I have greek yoghurt in the fridge. Thank you

adouglasmhor

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Both of these are incredibly high in sugar and will send your blood glucose levels soaring! I bet you're hungry and craving sweet/starchy foods again in an hour or so

Try switching to a protein based breakfast such as eggs or if you must have cereal then choose porridge or weetabix. Again with the yoghurt, switch to regular Greek yoghurt (no need for fat free, it's higher in sugar content) and add fresh or frozen berries and a drizzle of acacia honey (optional) to sweeten

I like raw steel cut or rolled oats in my Greek style yoghurt - or toasted coconut. I only rarely have it though.

Bitsy_Beans

I have given the 16/8 a go, not with weightloss as a goal but after doing some reading came across a couple of pages about breakfast making me eat more. I confess I've always thought that it was an important meal and ergo tried to include protein in form of eggs or wholewheat and avoided cereals in the main. But I would feel stuffed initially and then the snacking would start later in the morning.
This is my 4th day of doing 16/8 and I can't say I am missing breakfast at all, I don't feel the urge to snack and am happy to wait til midday to break fast.

Can I see myself living this way for the rest of my life? I certainly can as it seems to be more in tune with my body's rhythms.

I've gone dizzy reading loads of differing opinions on what you should and shouldn't eat. No wonder people don't know how or what to eat when there is so much contradictory advice. So I am sticking with moderation. I cook from scratch 80% of the time but I am going to moderate any more processed food to maybe to a couple of small portions at the weekend.

Sorry waffled a bit there just wanted to share, I've enjoyed following this thread.

~Chameleon~

Bitsy_Beans wrote: »

I've gone dizzy reading loads of differing opinions on what you should and shouldn't eat. No wonder people don't know how or what to eat when there is so much contradictory advice. So I am sticking with moderation. I cook from scratch 80% of the time but I am going to moderate any more processed food to maybe to a couple of small portions at the weekend.

Completely understandable, but you're adopting a very sensible approach to it :T

I also subscribe to the 80/20 method by ensuring I eat clean, home cooked whole foods 80% of the time but also quite happy to devour a bowl of ice cream, nibble on a few squares of dark chocolate or imbibe in the odd glass of wine

lostinrates

Bitsy_Beans wrote: »

I have given the 16/8 a go, not with weightloss as a goal but after doing some reading came across a couple of pages about breakfast making me eat more. I confess I've always thought that it was an important meal and ergo tried to include protein in form of eggs or wholewheat and avoided cereals in the main. But I would feel stuffed initially and then the snacking would start later in the morning.
This is my 4th day of doing 16/8 and I can't say I am missing breakfast at all, I don't feel the urge to snack and am happy to wait til midday to break fast.

Can I see myself living this way for the rest of my life? I certainly can as it seems to be more in tune with my body's rhythms.

I've gone dizzy reading loads of differing opinions on what you should and shouldn't eat. No wonder people don't know how or what to eat when there is so much contradictory advice. So I am sticking with moderation. I cook from scratch 80% of the time but I am going to moderate any more processed food to maybe to a couple of small portions at the weekend.

Sorry waffled a bit there just wanted to share, I've enjoyed following this thread.

Not waffle at all, i feel just the same about the information thing.

The protein issue was raised again, slightly differently from here in the telegraph artical.

I emailed a friend today who trains with some one who recommends dasting on a four day cycle with some low carb days, and a 'normal' carb day before ne fast. Tbh, i would have thought for appetite that would be the least good day to carb eat on.

Imo its not a matter of just being well versed, because people who understand the way the human body works are saying different things and it seems to me many of them based on a previously established philosophy or other school of thought already held. However, more than one method proponant is hailing the worth of fasting, so perhaps it supersedes these different appraches with its own merit.

lostinrates

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Completely understandable, but you're adopting a very sensible approach to it :T

I also subscribe to the 80/20 method by ensuring I eat clean, home cooked whole foods 80% of the time but also quite happy to devour a bowl of ice cream, nibble on a few squares of dark chocolate or imbibe in the odd glass of wine

80 /20 sounds an extension if the whole fast then 'feast' theory. And a good balance for sustaining through life.

daska

Not often I have to re-read one of your posts LIR, I know I get a bit confused when I'm tired but what's "imoits"?

Personally I came to IF at an early age because it suited me, I then made the mistake of giving it up because "breakfast is the most important meal of the day". Cue huge weight problems. I think there's a lot to be said for the practice of actively listening to your own body, for most people that will tell them when to eat, drink, sleep etc. and after a while you don't need to use a hearing aid any more.

The information overload is dizzying though, I quite agree, every day, alternate days, consecutive days, don't eat, do eat, eat only x y or z etc. We've been doing this for 1000's of years, we're designed to eat a variety of foods, let's just get on with it.

aliasojo

daska wrote: »

Not often I have to re-read one of your posts LIR, I know I get a bit confused when I'm tired but what's "imoits"?

Imo, it's........:D

daska

aliasojo wrote: »

Imo, it's........:D

:wall: doh :rotfl: